others will give more elaborate advice than I, listen to them and

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Posted by Esther on April 28, 2001 at 00:38:00:

In Reply to: unusual Russian tortoise problem posted by D. Larson on April 27, 2001 at 22:17:08:

meanwhile, I can only tell you what worked for Angel Baby when she was in this state, starving after being pet-store abused.

Seeing a vet was a necessity. They determine whether your tortoise has parasites, and how to treat them properly. This is very important.

You mentioned weak front legs -- perhaps he was kept on a type of substrate that led to muscular atrophy. A vet could tell you that.

It also helped immensely to do the soaking, but she would still be too tired to chew. Even reaching for the food was too much effort for her. I would place the food right in front of her mouth, and make sure that if it was greens, that it was very finely chopped so that minimal chewing was involved. She would only be interested in succulant greens or brightly colored foods that gave off a pleasing smell. The problem with the very finely chopped food was that it would dry out quickly, and thus stop smelling appealing to her. So I was chopping up a lot of stuff for her, almost continuously, in case she would suddenly have the strength to take that one crucial bite!

I admit, I gave in to some of her whims and let her have some tiny chopped pieces of strawberries (irresistable to her) and would trick her taste buds by dusting one side of the berry with calcium powder (if she figured out there was any powder, she would ignore food entirely - very picky when they are starving)!

What really changed her life was this constant vigilant feeding, vets getting rid of all her parasites, and especially SUNLIGHT. Direct sunlight. I sent her to camp with Grandma's big back yard and a month later, I had a different tortoise who was glowing with sunlight exposure and eating constantly!

Please keep in mind that Angel Baby is a sulcata and I'm sure that Russians have different dietary restrictions. But the part about finely chopped food, right against their nostrils and maybe even a little dampened will cut down on the chewing effort.

Again, other people will give you more specific and very good advice on this board. Making sure that you find a good vet who has experience with tortoises is necessary. Call around to other vets and see who they recommend. That way, when your check comes through, you will already have the appointment and an idea how much it will cost to do a check up, Stool sample (they will check for parasites) and get an estimate on getting rid of parasites so that you know how to budget your resources. Good luck.

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Re: others will give more elaborate advice than I, listen to them and Terry 04/28/01 (0)

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: meanwhile, I can only tell you what worked for Angel Baby when she was in this state, starving after being pet-store abused. : Seeing a vet was a necessity. They determine whether your tortoise has parasites, and how to treat them properly. This is very important. : You mentioned weak front legs -- perhaps he was kept on a type of substrate that led to muscular atrophy. A vet could tell you that. : It also helped immensely to do the soaking, but she would still be too tired to chew. Even reaching for the food was too much effort for her. I would place the food right in front of her mouth, and make sure that if it was greens, that it was very finely chopped so that minimal chewing was involved. She would only be interested in succulant greens or brightly colored foods that gave off a pleasing smell. The problem with the very finely chopped food was that it would dry out quickly, and thus stop smelling appealing to her. So I was chopping up a lot of stuff for her, almost continuously, in case she would suddenly have the strength to take that one crucial bite! : I admit, I gave in to some of her whims and let her have some tiny chopped pieces of strawberries (irresistable to her) and would trick her taste buds by dusting one side of the berry with calcium powder (if she figured out there was any powder, she would ignore food entirely - very picky when they are starving)! : What really changed her life was this constant vigilant feeding, vets getting rid of all her parasites, and especially SUNLIGHT. Direct sunlight. I sent her to camp with Grandma's big back yard and a month later, I had a different tortoise who was glowing with sunlight exposure and eating constantly! : Please keep in mind that Angel Baby is a sulcata and I'm sure that Russians have different dietary restrictions. But the part about finely chopped food, right against their nostrils and maybe even a little dampened will cut down on the chewing effort. : Again, other people will give you more specific and very good advice on this board. Making sure that you find a good vet who has experience with tortoises is necessary. Call around to other vets and see who they recommend. That way, when your check comes through, you will already have the appointment and an idea how much it will cost to do a check up, Stool sample (they will check for parasites) and get an estimate on getting rid of parasites so that you know how to budget your resources. Good luck.

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